Delegates give Russia taste of Tibet culture

The Tibetan Culture Delegation wrapped up on Saturday a four-day visit to Russia, where it had an in-depth exchange of opinions on the development of religious cultural exchange with Russian experts.

The delegation, organized by the State Council Information Office of China, was led by Zhou Wei, director of the Religion Research Institute of the China Tibetology Research Center.

The delegation’s members included experts on Tibetology and Tibetan medicine from Beijing and the Tibet autonomous region, Tibetan officials and Tibetan Living Buddhas.

The delegation and Russian experts discussed the importance of further cultural exchange between China and Russia under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative, a strategy put forward by President Xi Jinping that builds on the traditional Silk Road land and sea trade routes.

“Tibetan culture plays significant roles in Chinese culture, and it is a facet of China’s soft power,” said Taras Ivchenko, director of the Russian State University for the Humanities’ Confucius Institute.

Ivchenko said three Russian republics — the Republic of Kalmykia, Republic of Tuva and Republic of Buryatia — have residents who are Tibetan Buddhism followers, and that local governments wanted to have more communication with Chinese Tibetan experts about religious culture.

Sergei Uyanaev, first deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Far Eastern Studies, hailed the rapid development of the autonomous region’s economy through the great importance it has been given by China’s central government.

Uyanaev gave a high rating to the visit of the Tibetan Culture Delegation from China, saying the delegation brought Russian Tibet-research experts some firsthand information about the region.

“As a leading Russian research institute on China, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Far Eastern Studies would like to enhance the link with the Religion Research Institute of China’s Tibetology Research Center, and to enter into more academic cooperation with China,” he said.

Last week, the Tibetan Culture Delegation visited Mongolia and held conferences with experts from Mongolian State University, international research institutes, a Tibetology research center, the National Library of Mongolia and media.

Xinhua contributed to this story.